Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Looking Back at Last Night's Lottery

So the Pat Williams world renowned string of good luck is over. It was inevitable I guess. No way it could last forever. We're still all allowed to feel bad. This was Pat Williams' first chance to truly return a hero (again) for the first time since 2004 when Williams clinched the #1 selection that would lead to Dwight Howard being drafted. We'll always have the memories. Tuesday morning was all about Pat doing the radio interview rounds too and dropping his knowledge and optimism on the public. Pat got outdone by Nick Gilbert and the Cavaliers who were expected to land the third spot only to jump to the top. Orlando had the best odds to win the lottery and earn the right to choose #1 in the June 27th NBA Draft, but Pat and the gang will be settling for #2.

Now the fun part comes. It is assumed that Nerlens Noel will be a Cavalier. That leaves guys like Ben McLemore, Trey Burke, Otto Porter, Victor Oladipo, and Anthony Bennett for the Magic to sift through in determining who deserves to be chosen #2. If you look at how Wizards fans and journalists are reacting to the glorious news of leaping from a supposed #8 pick to third, it's almost a lock that Otto Porter will be selected #3. That's if Orlando passes on him.

Also enjoy the anti-climactic behind-the-scenes clip of how it all went down. It's still fascinating as Joel Glass had to keep quiet as to not spoil the results:

I'll only mention that Heather Cox has a great future in becoming a full time lottery drawing model. Also, we ALL still can't get Noel's mom's hair out of our minds. I'll spare your eyes again of that surprising image. She makes her son's flattop look boring and normal.

Look, I fully understand that Nick Gilbert has an illness. It's still okay to not like the kid though...or his family. It was blatantly obvious by Alex Martins' numb stare and Rob Hennigan's lip curve that they were both more than annoyed by Cleveland's delegation. They're not the only ones. Clearly there was a lot of banter and chatter between the two parties before the live television program I think if it was David Stern announcing the ping pong balls instead of Adam Silver, Pat would've won it. I'm convinced.

Come on now, Dan, you can't even give Pat a respectable hand shake? Is that how you teach others to act?

I got a good laugh out of ESPN justifying Cleveland selecting Noel EVEN MORE by oddly transforming Tyler Zeller from a PF/C into a guard:

As we slowly approach the draft, we can continue to examine what the Magic should do. As of right now, I don't think Rob Hennigan will trade the #2 pick. I don't foresee any other NBA teams truly offering much value in return for that second choice. I believe it's down to 3 players that the Magic will pick should they retain the #2 selection: Burke, McLemore, and Oladipo. Whoever Orlando picks is crucial, because it means that Jameer Nelson or Arron Afflalo won't be in the team's long-term future. For now, allow the speculation to begin.